Darmstadt Care Conference: Focus on emergency care for older people!

Darmstadt Care Conference: Focus on emergency care for older people!

What's going on in Hesse? At the end of June 2025, numerous interested parties from nursing, administration and civil society gathered in the Darmstadt district center for the nursing conference, which dealt with pressing questions about emergency care in home care. The event took place in the context of an aging society in which care is increasingly perceived as a central social challenge. Loud LADADI Gabriele Kühnle, head of the department for social affairs and participation, recalled the need for regular care conferences in order to promote exchange and networking between those involved.

The challenges in nursing are diverse: The increasing shortage of skilled workers, insufficient financial resources and overburdened structures require creative solutions. In her lecture, Fatma Yilmaz, specialist team leader at the nursing base, highlighted emergency situations in home care. She called for emergency folders to be created and control options for control centers to be expanded. Ulrich Rauch, head of the geriatric care department, also pointed out the need for a network of emergency responders to enable more fluid emergency care.

Geriatric care in the district

Another important aspect of the conference was geriatric care, which was presented by Dr. Jürgen Heins and Dr. Fabian Schneider, the head of geriatrics, was highlighted. They presented the offerings of their geriatric clinic in Groß-Umstadt. Geriatric care, which includes medical treatment, nursing support, social stabilization and rehabilitation, is critical to the often complex needs of older patients. In many cases, however, mismanagement is observed: Older patients are often admitted to geriatrics without an acute illness, which urgently needs to change, as the doctors determined.

On top of that, DG Geriatrics reports that there will be a reform of emergency care in Germany from January 2025. The aim of this reform is to better control patient flows and relieve overloaded clinics. About a quarter of patients in emergency departments are over 70 years old, and this age group in particular often presents with multimorbidity and atypical symptoms. Professor Katrin Singler is calling for more geriatric expertise in central emergency departments in order to meet these challenges.

Innovations in emergency care

The need for comprehensive geriatric medicine is clear. Loud Healthcare in Europe A targeted geriatric medical screening method can not only enable adequate treatment, but also significantly contribute to reducing the burden on emergency rooms. Projects that have been successfully implemented in other countries – such as the use of “frailty nurses” in Canada or the homely atmosphere in the Frankfurt/Oder Clinic – can serve as positive examples. These innovative approaches show how important it is to rethink the health care of older people and to create the necessary framework conditions for this.

All in all, it is clear that the exchange and networking of nursing and health care professionals is necessary to address the challenges in emergency and geriatric care. It will be exciting to see how the planned reforms are implemented and what progress the coming period will bring.